Envelop-opener.



G. A. PEPLE.

ENVELOP OPENER.

APPLIOATION MLBI JAN. 28, 1914.

Patented June 9,1914.

I, %ZM i.

coLUMBIA PLANoaRAPH c tJNiTED STATES PATENT onnroE. i

CHARLES A. PEPLE, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR- TO THE DUPLEX ENVELOPE COMPANY, INC., OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A

CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

ENVELOP-OPENER.

1,09938&

Application filed January 28, 1914.

To all whom it may concem Be it known that I, CHAnLEs A. PEPLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the County of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in EnVelop-Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

Thi invention relates to envelop openers of that type wherein a stiletto blade is ernployed for insertion between the superposed portions of the envelop adjacent the told and severing the material at the fold, the objects of the invention being toaprovide an exceedingly simple and attractive form of device in which the stiletto blade itself will be a non-cuttng blade, the severing action being performed by a cutting blade mounted on the stiletto blade with its cutting edge at an angle thereto, whereby the severing of the paper may be etlected by a direct movement of the device in the line of the stiletto blade. The design is such that there is little or no liability of the envelop being cut irregularly or at any point other than directly at the fold and the stiletto blade which serves as the guiding portion of the devioe may be made of small transverse dimensions, so as to easily enter and follow through the envelop adjacent the told, even where the fiaps are pasted close up to the folds, as is now commonly done in envelops designed for holding small change, etc., especially envelops for church collection work.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an envelop opener having a non-cutting stiletto blacle, a cutting blade carriecl by the stiletto blade, and a guard extending over the cutting blade but spaced therefrom to protect the user from injury and the cutting blade from damage.

With these objects in view, the invention consists primarily in an envelop opener having a handle, a non-cutting stiletto blade oii set to project out of alinement with the handle, and having at its base or inner end a diagonally arranged cutting blade projecting from the stiletto blade in the plane of the ofi'set.

The invention further consists in certain novel details of Construction, all as Will be Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. s14,979. i

hereinafter described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,-Figure l is aplan View of an envelop opener embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the cutting blade mounted in the inner portion of the stiletto blade. Fig. 3 is a View corresponding to Fig. 1, but showing a modified and preferred arrangement of the cutting blade with two of its edges nounted in the stiletto blade and oitset, respectively.

Like letters of reference in ures indicate the same parts.

In the preferred form of the opener, the stiletto blade, handle and guard are allbent up from a single length of netal rod, although it will be obvious to those skilled in the manufacture of such articles, that processes of manufacture other than by bending the rod into shape may be followed, and therefore it is not desired to restrict the invention absolutely to a clevice so constructed.

Referring to said drawings, the letter A indicates the portion of the device which is termed the stiletto blade. It is substantially straight, preferably tapers gradually toward the outer end and is relatively thick in proportion to its width, both of its edges being well rounded, forming what may be properly defined as a non-cutting stiletto blade. It is relatively long, ad apting it to be passed into the smallest opening which may be left at the base of an envelop flap and to slide easily along the fold of the envelop without danger of tearing the same, or injuring the contents thereof.

B indicates the handle portion of the device which. as shown, is formed by a doubled section of the metal rod from which the device is\ formed, and between the handle and inner end or base of the stiletto blade is the ofi'set C by reason of which the stiletto blade projects out of alinement with the hanclle, and the fingers of the user grasping the handle will therefore occupy a position beyond the edge of the envelop being opened.

At the base of the stiletto blade and in the plane of the oftset C there is mounted a cntting blade D, preferably a thin wat-'er blade, rigidlyheld in a slot in the stiletto blade and having its cutting edge arranged diagonally or diverging rearwardly from the the several fig- Patented June 9, 1914.

stiletto blade, the forward end of said cutting edge mergng smoothly into the stiletto blade, whereby the paper to be cut will slide onto the same without catching or tearing.

To protect the user from injury by the cutting blade, as well as to guard said blade against injury by contact with'objects which might dull the same, a guard portion F projects forwardly in line with the handle, at a point opposte the cutting edge, but spaced therefrom.

As shown in Fig. 1, the cutting blade is mounted in the inner portion or base of the stiletto blade, a slight distance forward of the oifset, and in this form of the device the cutting blade is relatively narrow, and the inclination of the cutting edge very gradual, while in Fig. 3, the cutting blade has its rear edge supported by the offset C, and the blade itself is relatively broad, with its cutting edge at a sharp inclination to the stiletto blade, this form of the device being more especially adapted for cutting heavier envelops where the stiffness of the paper will prevent it from crumpling up or pushing forward and tearing, as the opener is advanced.

In operation, it is designed that the stiletto blade shall be pushed through the envelop close to the fold with a straight forward movement, the paper feeding up on or against the cutting edge and being severed as the implement is advanced in a straight line, thus distinguishing the operation of the device quite sharply from that class of devices wherein a stiletto blade having a long sharp edge is employed, and the opening operation is performed by a combined forward and lateral movement of the implement. In the present device the cutting is performed in effect by a wedging action of the cutting edge, it being found that in most envelops the stiletto blade will be supported by the pasted portion of the fiap in contact with which the back or opposte side of the stiletto blade travels, and in any event the keenly sharpened cutting edge will sever the paper with but a very slight tendency to displace the implement laterally and such tendency, if not resisted by the envelop, will be effectively resisted by the practically unconscious pressure of the user in holding the stiletto blade close to the fold.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. An envelop opener embodyng a han dle, a non-cutting stiletto blade off-set to project out of alinement with said handle, and a cutting blade mounted in the inner end of the stiletto blade in the plane of the ofi-set, said cutting blade having its cutting edge inclined toward and at the forward end merging into the stiletto blade whereby papers will be severed by the cutting blade when the opener is advanced parallel with the longitudinal axis of the stiletto blade.

2. An envelop opener embodying a handle, a non-cutting stiletto blade off-set to project out of alinement with said handle, a guard projecting beyond the off-set in alinement with the handle, and a thin fiat blade mounted in the inner end of the stiletto blade in the plane of the off-set and having a cutting edge inclined from the stiletto blade rearwardly toward the handle and guard.

3. An envelop opener embodying ahandle, a non-cutting stiletto blade off-setto project out of alinement with said handle, a guard projecting beyond the off-set in alinement with the handle, and a thin flat blade mounted in the nner end of the stiletto blade in the plane of the off-set and having its inner end secured in the off-set at the base of the stiletto blade, said thin blade having a cutting edge inclined from the stiletto blade rearwardly toward the handle and guard.

t. An envelop opener embodying a handle, non-cutting stiletto blade and guard forned from a single length of rod bent into shape with the blade off-set from the handle and the guard projecting forwardly of the handle and spaced from the blade, and a cutting blade mounted in the stiletto blade and proj ecting therefrom toward the guard, said blade having a cutting edge extending diagonally from the stiletto blade toward the guard.

CHARLES A. PEPLE. lVitnesses Gr. CABELL LAwToN, M. S. RACKETT.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington. D. G." 

